


The Red Phone

by WanderingBandurria



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: 0.5 seconds on the fic, Coming of Age, First Kiss, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Getting Together, M/M, Marauders Era (Harry Potter), One Shot, Pining, Post-Sirius Black's Prank on Severus Snape, Summer Romance, That's relevant for like, Travel, Welsh Remus Lupin, wolfstar
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-15
Updated: 2020-03-15
Packaged: 2021-02-28 17:21:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,835
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23150887
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WanderingBandurria/pseuds/WanderingBandurria
Summary: It’s the summer before Seventh year, and things haven’t been easy for Remus Lupin in the past year, between Snape gaining knowledge of his lycanthropy and him giving up his prefecture to avoid casting attention.Things with his friends have been strange too, James angry at Sirius for the first time, and Sirius making less flamboyant displays and making Remus nervous when he catches him looking at him with weirdly fixed eyes.And then, one hot afternoon, a red phone appears in the middle of the Lupins backyard. He takes it, of course, because he is a Gryffindor, goddammit, and even more, a Marauder, and not for nothing.
Relationships: Sirius Black/Remus Lupin
Comments: 37
Kudos: 200





	The Red Phone

**Author's Note:**

> Hi there! So, the world is a weird place right now, but I'm trying to make the most of it, using the extra time indoors to read and write as much as I want, so yay! But seriously, for everyone out there having a rough patch, lots of love to you. Stay safe.
> 
> So, English is not my first language, so please be gentle, but let me know if you spot any mistake or some expressions that are not correctly used. Any feedback that can help me improve my written skills and language proficiency would be well received!
> 
> And all my gratitude goes to RemusTrash for beta reading it and being so gentle when teaching me. Best. Teacher. Ever. If you haven't read their work, go and do it now. But right now! Because it's amazing!
> 
> And to you, thank you so much for reading! please review if you can, it would mean the world to me.

Remus is reading on his windowsill when a red phone appears in the middle of his backyard. He yelps from surprise when the loud cracking sound makes him look, but then curiosity shots through his body. 

There are heavy wards around his house, so there are not many households from where you can send things to the Lupins. His father has been away from home for about a week, so there’s little chance that it’s for him, and anything magical tends to make Hope Lupin grumble for a few hours, so none of her friends will force any other form of communication that the ones she already accepts, mainly the _regular, perfectly sensible white phone_ and sporadic owls. 

So Remus is intrigued. He wonders if whoever sent this phone knows about the rumours in the Muggle world about a red phone between the US and the USSR and if this is supposed to be some kind of metaphor. He shudders to think who could be his cold war counterpart. He hopes that whoever sent it is just clueless about Muggle politics.

He sets his book on his desk and stretches lazily. The sensible thing would be to wait for his father, who returns the next day, and make sure together that it’s not dangerous. But well, Remus _is_ intrigued, and he trusts his father’s wards enough to convince himself that it is okay to go out and take a look, maybe test his own ability at detecting spells. 

He can feel the adrenalin shoot in his veins while he walks through the long, splotchy grass. He pulls at his oversized shirt by the hem to fix it. 

He casts all the spells. Nothing. The phone appears to be harmless, with its black numbers and white dial. Not _too_ harmless to fool Remus, mind you. He tries to remember some advanced spells that he has read about, and casts them successfully, he thinks, and yet nothing. 

He pokes it with a twig. 

Still nothing.

He takes a deep breath, the thrill in his veins making him want to jump and run. But he’s a measured young man, 17 already, so he knows to be calm.

But he’s also _17_ and a Gryffindor. And even more, a Marauder. So before he can talk himself out of it, he reaches and takes the speaker.

_Bollocks_ , he thinks, when he feels the pull on his navel and the ground swept from under his feet. 

The next thing he knows, he’s in a dune, surrounded by sand, with tall grass and yellow and pink flowers. It’s lovely, he has to admit it, even when he knows he should be wary and ready to fight. He can hear the distant crash of waves on the shore, and the wind sweeps his hair softly. 

The phone is nowhere to be found. _Weird Portkey_ , he thinks. It felt slightly different than others too, but he can’t put his finger on what exactly was different.

He readies his wand when his eyes focus on a figure sitting a few dunes away. The person turns their face and, _of course_ , it’s Sirius. Remus starts walking in his direction, but before he knows, he’s speeding up, almost at a full run.

“What did Prongs think his Patronus would be in third year?” He asks, his wand pointing at his friend. 

Sirius laughs.

“He thought it would be a black panther, the git. _A perfect mixture of my Gryffindor personality and my mysterious looks,_ was what he said” he remarks, delighted.

“Not that one could tell a black panther from a regular one on a Patronus,” Remus snickers, sitting next to Sirius on the sand. The ocean suddenly appears in his line of vision, knocking the air out of him. 

When he comes out of it, Sirius is looking at him, a small smile on his face. He hasn’t shaved since they left school, and he looks strikingly handsome with his long hair swaying in the wind. 

“Moony,” Sirius just states, looking into his eyes. Remus feels like a person seeing the ocean for the first time.

“Padfoot,” he grins at his friend “not that this isn’t a lovely surprise, but next time, you can let me know beforehand that you are sending me a Portkey. I spent an awful amount of time with revealing spells, and what’s more, I could have not taken it, you know.”

“Oh, we both know that was not possible, Moony, don’t try to fool me, you little mischievous creature.” Sirius gives him a triumphant smile and Remus feels himself blush at the weird term of endearment. “And I’m sure you enjoyed the thrill of not knowing what was going on and having to twist that brilliant head of yours to figure out the right spell to know what that phone was.”

“Well, I didn’t actually figure out what the phone was until I touched it, I’ll have you know. I went headfirst like any other good Gryffindor would proud themselves for,” he jokes.

“My, my, I knew you would slack off someday.”

They stay silent for a long time, looking at the sea. Remus’ mind is blank, unsure of what all of this means. 

“Is this because you still think I’m angry with you for the Prank on Snape?” he asks suddenly, without meaning to.

Sirius goes still. He puts a hand on his knee, and his knuckles go white.

“Are you?” he asks, trying to sound nonchalant, but his voice is small and his eyes look upfront, lost in the infinity of the ocean.

Remus sighs. “I never was,” he says as firmly as he can, not without kindness.

He reaches for Sirius’ hand, looking to squeeze it reassuringly. As soon as his fingers touch Sirius, their hands fitting together perfectly, Sirius turns to look at him, surprised. 

And then the world is turning, the sand under him swept away, and Sirius’ heated hand drifting away. He falls with a _thump_ in the grass of his backyard, his hand reaching into the air.

_Stupid magic,_ is the only thing he can think. Of course Padfoot’s spell wouldn’t be simple and straightforward. “Stupid Sirius and his plans,” he mutters to himself, while he stands up and cleans the dirt off him.

\---

He spends the next few days in a hectic state, helping his father with a cursed chest that he's being paid to open. When they are not working, his father is training him in defensive magic. 

When Remus has a second to himself, he spends it looking at his backyard, hoping for something. The phone, or maybe Sirius himself.

He writes a letter to him, to tell him what a wonderful surprise the Portkey was, and assures him that he doesn't need to do anything to make Remus forgive him because there's nothing to forgive. He never sends it.

Four days later, his father sends him to return the opened chest to its owner. On the way back home, Remus goes through the forest that keeps his home isolated from the rest of the village. 

And there, under an oak, it’s the goddamn red phone. This part of the woods is still under his father’s wards, so it’s not likely a trap. 

Remus feels his stomach turn while he walks hurriedly to the phone. The only thought in his mind is _Sirius, Sirius, Sirius_ , and he feels ridiculous to the point that he wants to laugh at himself.

He casts the revealing spells again, just to be sure. Nothing - So he reaches for the speaker. He is surprised when his hand makes contact with the plastic. He crouches to put the phone on his ear.

And then is when he feels a pull. _Here we go_ , he thinks, happiness flooding him.

But the thug is short, and when his vision regains focus, he’s still under the oak in the woods, and the phone is a few feet away, the speaker in place, mocking him. 

He huffs, exasperated. Of course, Sirius wouldn’t be himself if he wouldn’t take an already complex spell - a _transportation_ _spell_ , normally cast only by authorized Ministry employees - and play with it to make it mock his friends.

He walks resolutely to the phone and reaches for it. This time, the phone disappears before he can touch it and appears further away, taking him to a part of the woods that he’s not used to.

“Padfoot, if this is some sort of trap, I’ll kill you,” he says, loud enough to be heard if Sirius is watching him.

Every time he tries to reach for the phone, it reappears further away. Remus laughs to himself, trying not to get annoyed. It is clear that the phone is guiding him somewhere, but why did Sirius choose this method to meet him, is beyond Remus comprehension. He would go wherever his friend would ask him to go, and he thought that that was quite clear to everyone. Maybe this game of catch is the ultimate proof that Remus would follow Sirius even when he is a pain in the ass.

After what feels like an hour and with Remus already out of his father's wards, the forest becomes less dense and suddenly, he’s on open grasslands. The land goes up in a soft-looking hill in front of him, where Sirius is waiting with his hands in his pockets.

He has to stop himself from running to his friend, so he walks briskly as a compromise, daisies tickling his exposed ankles. When he’s close enough to be heard, he exclaims “What is this, are you showing me around my own country, Black?”

Sirius laughs. A proper Sirius-laugh, wrinkling his nose, barking the air out of his lungs. Remus is already in front of him when he manages to breathe out “wouldn’t dare to try, Moony.” His voice is low and raspy, sending chills through Remus’ spine.

Sirius takes a step closer, and his hand goes up, touching softly Remus’ collarbone that is visible above the stretched collar of his oversized shirt. Remus flushes, his eyes fixed on Sirius’ focused eyes, while he cleans the dirt that he got there in his chase of the red phone.

“You know that people say that there’s a red phone that connects the Soviet government with the president of the United States? when I first saw your phone, I thought that there would be an enemy at the other end of it. A ridiculous enemy that would like Muggles too much to be a proper enemy, mind you.” He stumbles on the words, trying to find something to say and break the tension that he feels. _Good job, Remus, you sound like a complete nutter_ , he congratulates himself.

Sirius smiles cheekily like it’s a challenge. “What did I tell you on Valentine’s day, fifth year, after my date with Ava, Moony?”

Remus flushes at the memory, Sirius’ fingers trailing from his collarbones to his neck, barely touching. Remus has to look to the ground to manage to say the words. He doesn’t even have to search for the memory, he has repeated it so much in his mind, looking for a hidden meaning, that he knows the words by heart. “Well, after you complained about your date for half an hour, you told me, and I dare say with great dramatics, that ‘It’s just you and me now, Moony, from now and forever’, and then you turned into Padfoot and slobbered all over my homework, my bedcovers and my face. You took to repeat the words at me at random moments during that year, so I wouldn’t forget.”

He laughs, releasing some of his nervousness, and dares to look at Sirius, who is smiling at him. He goes blank for a second before he remembers that they are out of his father’s wards and he should check that this is Sirius, too.

“What did I say to you in fifth year, after the first prank that you did after I was appointed Prefect?”

Sirius laughs at the memory, his hand leaving Remus’ neck and returning to his pocket.

“You told me ‘next time, you should use a time delaying charm, so you don’t get caught. And there’s also an amazing sticking charm that I’ve read about that can help you climb walls so you can set the charm in the ceiling properly,’ and then you proceeded to take 20 points from Gryffindor out loud, to keep yourself out of trouble, you sneaky _Prefect._ ”

“Not anymore” he laughs, but he regrets it immediately when he sees Sirius’ guilty expression. “Oh, come on, Padfoot. You know I was the worst Prefect in Hogwarts history. And I’m really looking forward to seeing how Prongs manages to accomplish his responsibilities as Headboy. It’s going to be quite a spectacle to watch.”

With that, Sirius is laughing again. Remus is quite proud of himself for making him laugh, actually.

“Yeah, you are right,” Sirius says when he sobers up. Then, he smiles mischievously, making Remus’ heart stop. “We’ll need to plan some good pranks, so you can have your hand back for all the stupid ideas that he played at you. Anyways,” Sirius takes his arm and starts pulling him up the rest of the hill. At the top of it, there’s a rug, where Sirius’ enchanted turntable is. “Up for some music, Moony?”

Remus flops down on the rug, nodding. Sirius starts the music and lies down next to him. Remus can feel his body heat, even though they are not touching. They look at the clouds, following the changing forms. They laugh at the ridiculous things that Sirius sees and fall back into silence to listen to the lyrics of the songs. 

Sirius turns the disc side with a flick of his wand, and it’s not until half of side B that he stands up, grinning broadly, and extends his hand to Remus, wiggling his fingers.

Remus doesn’t think it and takes his hand. They jump and swing to the music, laughing happily. Remus closes his eyes while he shakes his head with the beat, and he can hear Sirius muttering part of the lyrics. When he opens his eyes, Sirius is looking at him and grinning like a maniac, and then he takes his hands and starts pulling and pushing to the rhythm of the song, turning and jumping, making Remus’ dizzy laughter resonate all over the place. After a few fast songs, the music changes, too slow to dance. They are so close, Sirius looming over him, his eyes sparkling, that Remus doesn’t know what to do, so he flops back down onto the rug, still laughing and catching his breath. Sirius follows him. 

Sirius turns to his side to face Remus. His face is really close when Remus turns his head, inquisitive, to see him. Their eyes meet, and Remus can only hear Sirius’ soft breath and his own heart. 

And then the song ends, and Sirius mutters “Fuck,” and is gone, with the rug and the turntable, leaving Remus directly on the grass, with all his confusion.

\---

  
  


It’s the middle of the night when he hears a loud _crack_ that has him on his feet in no time. 

It’s the bloody red phone again, which is in his windowsill now. 

Remus wants to curse Sirius to the other side of the world for waking him up, he does, but he also wants to laugh and shake him and whisper to him _what do you want from me, Sirius? because you can have it, whatever it is._ He sighs and puts socks and a jumper on, in case the phone takes him somewhere. 

The phone is solid under his hand, and he gulps. He’s not sure what to do, but he takes the speaker to his ear.

“Hey, Moony,” he can hear Sirius on the other side.

“Oh, so now it’s a regular phone?” he whispers, not wanting to wake his parents.

“Mhm, pretty clever, isn’t it?”

“Mmm, maybe if it wasn’t the middle of the night…” he says, before yawning.

“Well, you see, Moony, this had to be done in the middle of the night. Where would the poetry be, otherwise?”

“The poetry of what, Sirius?” Remus says snickering, trying to keep the volume of his voice low.

“You see, Moony, you are a clever, clever man. I did know about the red phone and the cold war between Muggles. The thing is, Moony -” Sirius’ voice cracks and Remus has to gulp down the large lump in his throat, his stomach jumping in his belly, unsure were Sirius is going. “The thing is, Moony, that sometimes I don’t know how to tell you the things I want to tell you. And I know it’s not the best metaphor, but I feel that if I don’t do something with all the distance between us, since the Prank, but even before that, well, I - _we_ might destroy each other somehow. I think that we can be brilliant together, Moony.” Sirius’ voice goes low and attempts to crack again, but it doesn’t in the end. “I _know_ we can be brilliant, Moony, but I also know that we can be destructive forces on our own. And, and I don’t know, I just want us to be brilliant; just brilliant, no distance between us, not circling each other until _something_ happens. Because it happened. I messed up last year, and yet you were still there, willing to forgive me. And I didn’t deserve it, but you are still here and I can’t ignore that. I - I just can’t stop thinking about it, Moony. I can’t stop thinking about _you_ , Remus.”

Remus gulps and breathes in, shaking. He can hear Sirius’ shaky breath on the other side of the phone, waiting for him to say something.

“So it was about the Prank, then.”

Sirius laughs.

“Merlin, Remus, is that what you take from what I said?” He pauses, thinking. “Well, I guess it is at some level. Not in the way you're thinking, though. Maybe at the beginning, I did think that you were mad under all your Moony- _unbothered-ness_ , and I wanted you to forgive me, but it was never so we could go back to being friends, because we _are;_ it was so I could tell you that I want you, Remus. I want _us_ to be an _us_ , like James wants Lily, only less pathetic and hopeless, I think. _I hope._ It’s about the Prank in the sense that it made me realize what my life would be without you on it, and how much I want you.”

“Well,” Remus manages to wheeze out, after coughing to clear his throat “Well, okay, not about the Prank, then. Alright. I can answer like a human being, I promise you I can. Just give me a second. So all of this, the phone, the _Cold War_ metaphor with the mutual destruction idea and all... all of this, are your attempts at wooing me. Wow. Okay. Not me overthinking it, not a dream. You - you actually were flirting. Okay, okay. Um, I promise I can answer, Padfoot, just - just give me a minute.”

Sirius laughs, clear and youthful.

“You don’t have to, Moony. I don’t want to force you into anything. I know you need your time to think about this - that’s why I decided to tell you all this on the phone and at night, so you can think about it. We can forget all of this if you want, and be friends. I’ll work my feelings out if that’s what you want. But I didn’t want to keep hiding it. So, tomorrow at 2:15, the phone will be a Portkey again, and I’ll be on the other side. You can take it if you want to give me a chance. If you don’t, it’s all right. As I said, I’ll work out my feelings on my own, don’t worry. You don’t have to explain to me anything if you don’t want to be with me. In that case, I’ll just see you here at the Potters’ in a couple of weeks when you come visiting. So. Goodnight, Moony”

And the line goes dead.

\---

Remus is by the phone at 2:00. He's a mess of nervous energy.

His palms are sweaty when he holds the phone at 2:13. 

Two minutes later, he’s swept from the floor. He lets the phone fall to the ground as soon as he feels the new ground under his feet, hearing it break. Sirius is on a cliff, looking at him, surprise mixed with delight in his face. 

_This is the moment, Lupin_ , he tells himself, gulping down the nausea of being transported out of time and space, but also of having Sirius right in front of him, after all that he said yesterday, after all the years of longing and fantasies that Remus can’t deny. He walks purposefully to Sirius, who looks even more surprised at the determination on his face. Sirius manages to say, “Hey, Moony” before Remus is kissing him intently. 

One of his hands tangles on Sirius’ hair, fisting it because he’s too scared that if he doesn’t hold onto something, his legs might fail him and he will end up a trembling mess on the floor. Sirius’ hands are on his neck in no time, and Remus’ wants to laugh at the thought that Sirius might have been fantasising about _his_ neck and collarbones all this time, just as he fantasises about his hair and hands. 

Their mouths meet and depart over and over again, Remus’ teeth nibbling at Sirius’ lower lip for a second before his mouth opens for Sirius’ tongue with a small moan. Sirius sighs against his cheek between kisses and his hands move to his hips before they travel to his back to hold him.

“Okay. Now I need a minute to put my mind back together,” Sirius says, laughing, when they finally take a break.

“Mm. Where are we, by the way?” Remus takes his eyes from Sirius’ to look at his surroundings. They are not on a cliff as he thought at the beginning, but they are over a rock. 

Sirius laughs.

“Well, don’t judge me. I thought that if you didn’t come, at least I could enjoy a nice afternoon by myself. But since you are here,” he untangles himself from Remus, takes two steps back and winks at him, “we can have a nice afternoon together.” And with that, he turns around and jumps into the void.

“What? -- Padfoot!” It’s all that Remus manages to say before he comes closer to the edge and watches how Sirius splashes the water on a small emerald pond.

“Come on, Moony!” Sirius calls, swimming to the side, so Remus can have space to dive in.

And of course, Remus jumps after Sirius. He’ll go wherever Sirius asks him to, and he thinks it’s clear enough for Sirius now too. 

**Author's Note:**

> This is heavily inspired by the video of Steffan Argus’ “Make me cry”, so you can go and see it to have the visual inspiration of this.
> 
> I headcanon with absolute certainty that Wolfstar were Bowie's fans, so in my mind, in the hill scene, they are listening to the Ziggy Stardust album. So they dance Hang on to Yourself, Ziggy Stardust and Suffragette City, and listen to Rock’n’Roll Suicide while lying down. I preferred to leave it more generic so anyone could imagine it with their favourite music, but if it helps you, you can go and listen to the album on that part. It’s such a great album!
> 
> Thanks again for reading! please comment if you can :)
> 
> Edited 20/8/20: thank you, everyone, for reading this!! Your kudos and comments are amazing! Now I know how to link, so I'm on [Tumblr](https://wanderingbandurria.tumblr.com/) if you still want to say hi and talk about Wolfstar or anything. I post some silly extra content there about my fics!


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